Girls Swimming: Upper Dublin continues title streak

UPPER DUBLIN — The last time Upper Dublin High’s girls swimming and diving team finished a season without winning a championship was a long time ago.

Want to know how long?

Well, the internet was still in its infancy, very few people had cellular phones and music like dubstep was unimaginable.

On Saturday, the Upper Dublin girls posted their 24th consecutive title-winning campaign when they placed first at Suburban One League American Conference Swimming Championships with a score of 331.50.

Upper Dublin was paced by its “Big Four” — Julia Rodriguez, Casey O’Neill, Sam Wheatley and Emily Houser. Collectively, they took first in the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 400 freestyle relay.

O’Neill finished as the meet’s only quadruple-winner when she logged individual victories in the 200 freestyle at 1:56.95 and the 100 freestyle with a clocking of 54.49.

“My best race today was the 200 free,” said O’Neill, a sophomore. “I was really happy with it. It was a season best time. I went out strong and held on. It is a good seed time for districts. The 100 free was good too — not my best but it’s a comfortable time. The 200 and the 500 will be my district events.”

Wheatley won the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:21.09 and placed second in the 100 butterfly at 1:00.08. Rodriguez was second in the 200 IM at 2:16.10 and third in the 100 backstroke at 1:02.61 and Houser was runner-up in the 100 backstroke at 1:00.61 and third in the 100 fly at 1:00.50.

“Fly was my best race today,” said Houser. “I came in third but I felt better in the water. It was nice to be able to get in and have a good fly time heading into districts. In back, I tried to go out as fast as I could and then hold on. I held on pretty well. My legs started to die but I stayed strong.”

Norristown’s breaststroke ace Nicole Martorella took first in the 100 breaststroke — and stunned herself with her time of 1:08.47.

“That was an amazing time for me,” said Martorella. “I’d never been below 1:10 before let alone 1:09. When I looked up and saw my time, I screamed. My previous best was 1:01.05 at districts last year. It was awesome to be able to so a 1:08 without shaving, without tapering and without a tech suit.”

Wissahickon’s Amanda Zlotnikoff came through with a double-gold performance when she touched first in the 50 free at 25.14 and won the 100 backstroke with a time of 59.40.

“Backstroke was definitely the better race,” said Zlotnikoff. “It was pretty close to my best time ever. My underwater was good. In the 50, I missed my wall but I came back O.K.”

Plymouth Whitemarsh’s young team put on a good show when the team of Hannah Thomas, Carolyn Pontari, Kathryn Garvey and Emily Dinda produced bronze-medal finishes in both the 200 freestyle relay and the 400 freestyle relay.

“I went a 25.6 in the 200 free relay and that’s my best split ever,” said Dinda, a freshman. “I had a good relay start, a great turn and I came back on my second lap. I also had personal best times in the 50 free and the 100 free today.”

Garvey also was third in the 200 IM at 2:24.70 and fifth in diving with a score of 327.30. Another top performer for the Colonials was Sarah Fisher, who was third in the 100 breaststroke at 1:10.94.

“In the IM, I was seeded sixth,” said Garvey, a senior. “I dropped five seconds and finished third. I knew it was going to be a good race because fly felt good. I dropped most of my time in back. I also qualified for districts in diving for the first time.”

Fisher, a Colonial freshman, said, “My breast time was a personal best by two seconds. My turns were a lot better than they have been. It just felt like a really good race.”